MOSCOW, June 19. /TASS/. The United States’ strategy of containing China, with the Indo-Pacific Region concept as its key instrument, threatens to divide and polarize Asia, according to the report titled The Rise of Rimland: The New Political Geography and Strategic Culture that was presented on Tuesday at the Valdai Discussion Club.
Thus, according to experts, the United States has made a definite choice in favor of strategic containment of Russia and China. "Not only has Washington affirmed the competitive nature of its relations with Moscow and Beijing, it has adopted a strategy with the ultimate goal of defeating them," the report reads.
Notably, the idea of improving relations with Russia is unlikely to come to the fore at least in the coming years, as is the idea of US-China strategic partnership.
The authors of the report claim that Washington’s new strategy centers round the idea of competition between sea (the United States and its partners and allies) and continental (Russia and China) powers. "The greatest risk of a divided, polarized Asia-Pacific region is posed by this US strategy," the report emphasizes.
According to the report, the Indo-Pacific strategy is a key instrument of the United States’ new policy of containing China in Asia Pacific. "The military component of Washington’s Indo-Pacific strategy includes the development of the Quad, a comprehensive security cooperation organization involving Japan, Australia, India, and the US. These four states should develop horizontal cooperation with each other, which includes regular military exercises, build up their military presence and infrastructure in East, Southeast, and South Asia, as well as coordinate their military policies," the report says.
The authors arrive at the conclusion that given China’s negative attitude to this concept, its development will inevitably entail more conflicts in the region.
Whereas Japan generally shares the United States’ vision of the Indo-Pacific Region (IPR), India needs this concept "as a tool to strengthen its own global standing and, down the line, to legitimize its likely presence outside of its traditional zone of interests in the Indian Ocean," the report has it. However, according to the authors, India’s participation in any security cooperation schemes of the anti-China nature is likely to be nominal, with it going further only in periods of aggravation in their bilateral relations.